Dividends have been a silver lining for the stock market this year, but investors are grappling with whether they can keep up such a rapid pace of growth. Companies in the S&P 500 have spent nearly $421 billion on dividends through November, a record-setting sum that eclipsed last year’s mark of roughly $391 billion and the full-year tally of $420 billion, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. More than two dozen companies announced additional dividend increases so far this month, which will push the year’s total even...

Source: Wall Street Journal December 16, 2018 12:00 UTC